History AudienceAlienatingPremise / Film

* Fictional movies where the central themes and characters are LGBTQ+ can be a hard sell for mainstream audiences, especially outside of the United States and Europe. The QueerShowGhetto is stronger (especially outside the aforementioned region where LGBTQ+ acceptance isn't as mainstream) than most other "Ghetto" tropes because not only will most straight people think such a movie isn't for them, but if it's about one specific queer subset--say, a lesbian period drama--then the other queer subsets might think the movie isn't for ''them'' either. And it's difficult to appeal to every group without coming across as pandering a ThemeParkVersion of queer culture. While ''Film/LoveSimon'' was a major success, much of that was due to {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s turning out in huge numbers. The majority of LGBTQ+ films are independent releases that have more creative freedom due to the smaller budget being easier to recoup.

* ''Film/RedSonja'' flopped for various reasons. There were early scenes of misogynistic torture and slaughter of potential [[ActionGirl action girls]] -- either massacred or thrown in a pit to die and [[DisposableWoman become forgotten]], to the point where only the protagonist Sonja and the antagonist Queen Gedren were the only women for the rest of the film. This disappointed anyone looking for a FeministFantasy, if not outright offending them. Fans of Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger were disappointed to see him in a supporting role, reduced to killing mooks in only a handful of scenes[[note]]He was supposed to have only a cameo, but the executives would elevate his role because they had no confidence in the film.[[/note]]. Throw in a mishmash of fantasy elements that appeal to no one when mixed together -- a KidHero and his bumbling sidekick; a giant mechanical lizard; a ''topless woman'' that exists [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment for no real reason]]; and the result was a ''massive'' box-office flop, [[GenreKiller killing off sword-and-sorcery for at least a decade]], and even Arnold Schwarzenegger would later [[CreatorBacklash not speak good of it]]. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Oh, and Sonja]] ''never'' wears her iconic ChainmailBikini, instead donning generic fantasy action-girl attire, so even an audience wanting sleaze were disappointed.

* The Creator/BenedictCumberbatch film ''Film/TheFifthEstate'' was a thriller about hacker/activist Julian Assange, who is still considered a controversial figure by many Americans for Wikileaks supposedly being involved in the Russian meddling in 2016's election in favor of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, as well as the never-resolved sexual assault charges levelled at him (he hid in an embassy for several years to avoid being taken to court). Add to it that the MisaimedMarketing made it look like the movie was trying to [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory rewrite history]] and turn Assange into some sort of kick-ass action hero, and it's no wonder it turned out to be a BoxOfficeBomb. It didn't help that the film was based on a book written by a former associate of Assange who has since become one of his most hated rivals. That assured that even those who vehemently support Assange would refuse to go see it, on the assumption that the film would make him look bad.

* ''WesternAnimation/PlaymobilTheMovie'' is based off of a [[Toys/{{Playmobil}} toyline considered niche]], and had to deal with the stigma of toy-based movies being expected to be hollow MerchandiseDriven cartoons. Even worse, Toys/{{Lego}}, a toyline that overshadows Playmobil in almost every way, had [[WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie a movie a few years prior]] that both managed to defy the expectation that it would be a cheap cashgrab, but also managed to become a huge success, meaning that people were inevitably going to compare Playmobil's movie to it. All of this resulted in an opening weekend described as the worst opening in cinematic history for a film playing in over 2,300 theaters.

* ''Film/MyBigFatIndependentMovie'' is a broad spoof based on independent films, with a general tone and tenor similar to the post-''Film/ScaryMovie'' era of spoofs where the plot is more or less a succession of references and cameos of characters from other movies held together by VulgarHumor. These kinds of movies were successful in their time, but targeted themselves at the lowest of lowbrow viewers, who would recognize maybe two of the films being parodied. Meanwhile, fans of independent films tend to passionately love those films, which are by nature obscure underdogs and often deal with serious and heartfelt subject matter, and would therefore be unhappy to see them get dragged through the mud. In short, the film is aimed at the Venn diagram of people who recognize [[Film/{{Amelie}} Amélie Poulain]], and people who want to see Amélie Poulain get punched in the face. The result: on a tiny budget of three million dollars, it grossed 4.6... thousand.

* ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' failed to find an audience due to combining too many niches together: comic books, indie rock, and video games from the '80s. Its audience would have to be a particular breed of geek that appreciates all three. Creator/MichaelCera also was not a big enough draw on his own and was in the midst of a HypeBacklash from audiences feeling [[{{Typecasting}} he played the same character too often]], [[NeverTrustATrailer something the marketing did little to dispel (keeping the most Cera-esque bits but leaving out Scott's more jerkass personality)]]. Throw in some weak marketing (the main poster for the film was just Scott rocking his guitar, with a vague tagline of [[BuffySpeak "An epic of epic epicness"]], leaving the uninitiated with zero clue about the movie) and an overreaching budget ($60m for a film with a narrow niche helmed by [[Creator/EdgarWright a filmmaker]] with a devoted but small American following) and the movie was dead on arrival, despite very good reviews from critics and audiences who did seek it out. The movie [[VindicatedByCable did better on home video]], though.

* ''Film/MyBigFatIndependentMovie'' is a broad spoof based on independent films, with a general tone and tenor similar to the post-''Film/ScaryMovie'' era of spoofs where the plot is more or less a succession of references and cameos of characters from other movies held together by VulgarHumor. These kinds of movies were successful in their time, but targeted themselves at the lowest of lowbrow viewers, who would recognize maybe two of the films being parodied. Meanwhile, fans of independent films tend to passionately love those films, which are by nature obscure underdogs and tend to deal with serious subject matter, and would therefore be unhappy to see them get dragged through the mud. In short, the film is aimed at the Venn diagram of people who recognize [[Film/{{Amelie}} Amélie Poulain]], and people who want to see Amélie Poulain get punched in the face. The result: on a tiny budget of three million dollars, it grossed 4.6... thousand.

* Although considered a CultClassic, ''WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}}'' has difficulty finding mainstream attention in large part because of its premise. It's a FilmNoir where the primary characters are feral cats. Sounds harmless enough... except the film is also full of disturbing imagery involving [[{{Gorn}} gruesome murder]], [[NightmareSequence surreal nightmares]], and a realistic sex scene (again, as a reminder, the characters are non-anthropomorphic ''house cats''). The film obviously can't be watched by children, but adults couldn't get into the film either on accounts of the characters being ordinary cats and the [[ArtStyleDissonance jarringly cartoonish art-style]].

* Although considered a CultClassic, ''WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}}'' has difficulty finding mainstream attention in large part because of its premise. It's a FilmNoir where the primary characters are feral cats. Sounds harmless enough... except the film is also an adult animated feature chock full of disturbing imagery involving [[{{Gorn}} gruesome murder]], [[NightmareSequence surreal nightmares]], and a realistic sex scene (again, as a reminder, the characters are non-anthropomorphic ''house cats''). The film obviously can't be watched by children, but adults couldn't get into the film either on accounts of the characters being ordinary cats and the [[ArtStyleDissonance jarringly cartoonish art-style]].

* Although considered a CultClassic, ''WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}}'' has difficulty finding mainstream attention in large part because of its premise. It's a FilmNoir where the primary characters are feral cats. Sounds harmless enough... except the film is also an R-rated feature chock full of disturbing imagery involving [[{{Gorn}} gruesome murder]], [[NightmareSequence surreal nightmares]], and a realistic sex scene (again, as a reminder, the characters are non-anthropomorphic ''house cats''). The film obviously can't be watched by children, but adults couldn't get into the film either on accounts of the characters being ordinary cats and the [[ArtStyleDissonance jarringly cartoonish art-style]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' had a ton of factors going against it from the beginning. As popular as ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' was, there was little general interest in a theatrical film starring Thomas the Tank Engine, with movies based on properties aimed at children historically doing awful at the box office. Even without that going against it, those who might've been interested in the film were turned off by [[HumanFocusedAdaptation the focus on new human characters over the familiar engine characters]] (some of whom were from [[Series/ShiningTimeStation a show]] created to introduce ''T&F'' to American audiences, and are largely unfamiliar to those living outside the country) and the inclusion of magical and fantasy elements, which many saw as a betrayal of the grounded realism that had defined the original ''Railway Series'' stories and the show up to that point. There's also the issue of the show's UsefulNotes/{{Supermarionation}} style. While the use of model trains with static faces worked for the show, it [[HardToAdaptWork did not translate well to a feature-length movie]] (where expectations are higher than for a kids' show), with many criticizing the style, especially the static faces, for being [[SpecialEffectsFailure cheap and shoddy]] by film standards. Despite a decent marketing campaign, these factors would cause the film to flop at the box office, only making $19.7 million on a $19 million budget.

* Fictional movies where the central themes and characters are LGBTQ+ can be a hard sell for mainstream audiences, especially outside of United States and Europe. The QueerShowGhetto is stronger (especially outside the aforementioned region where LGBTQ+ acceptance isn't as mainstream) than most other "Ghetto" tropes because not only will most straight people think such a movie isn't for them, but if it's about one specific queer subset--say, a lesbian period drama--then the other queer subsets might think the movie isn't for ''them'' either. And it's difficult to appeal to every group without coming across as pandering a ThemeParkVersion of queer culture. While ''Film/LoveSimon'' was a major success, much of that was due to {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s turning out in huge numbers. The majority of LGBTQ+ films are independent releases that have more creative freedom due to the smaller budget being easier to recoup.

* Disney is infamously known to have some of their animated movies suffer from this every time they try to break away from their [[AnimatedMusical mold]]: for example, because they tried to venture into DarkerAndEdgier territory, the disastrous box-office failure of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' almost ''destroyed the entire studio'', and was quickly forgotten once ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' was released into theaters and was proven to be far more successful. However, during the early 2000s, Disney then tried breaking away from the mold again, even revisiting the DarkerAndEdgier trope a second time, but this resulted in movies like ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'', and ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'' all becoming disastrous box office failures, forcing Disney to eventually begin to end their long-running trend of animating traditionally-animated movies for good. However, these movies are still considered as [[CultClassic cult favorites]], preventing them from being completely forgotten.

* Disney is infamously known to have some of their animated movies suffer from this every time they try to break away from their [[AnimatedMusical mold]]: for example, because they tried to venture into DarkerandEdgier territory, the disastrous box-office failure of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' almost ''destroyed the entire studio'', and was quickly forgotten once ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' was released into theaters and was proven to be far more successful. However, during the early 2000s, Disney then tried breaking away from the mold again, even revisiting the DarkerandEdgier trope a second time, but this resulted in movies like ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'', and ''WesternAnimation/HomeontheRange'' all becoming disastrous box office failures, forcing Disney to eventually begin to end their long-running trend of animating traditionally-animated movies for good. However, these movies are still considered as [[CultClassic cult favorites]], preventing them from being completely forgotten.

* ''Film/ManOnTheMoon'': For all the spilled ink about Creator/AndyKaufman, most people who weren't already in showbiz only remembered him as a FunnyForeigner on a [[Series/{{Taxi}} well-done but short-lived sitcom]]; those who remembered his ''other'' work either loved or loathed him. The filmmakers were perfectly aware that this trope applied and the writers even begged Universal Pictures to launch the film on the festival circuit rather than position it as a mainstream Christmas blockbuster, but because Creator/JimCarrey was playing Kaufman higher-ups believed it could be a hit out of the gate. It ended up getting mixed reviews and was Carrey's first box-office flop as an A-lister, but he wasn't bothered; as he told ''Playboy'' a few years later, "I don't think it was meant to do a lot of business, because Andy didn't do a lot of business. We were true to him and polarized the same people." (The film found an unexpected PeripheryDemographic on [=DVD=] and cable: the younger end of Carrey's fanbase, who were unable to see the film in theaters due to its R-rating and came to the subject matter cold -- they found it fascinating.)

* Almost every movie set during [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror the Iraq War]] has been a BoxOfficeBomb, including ''Film/TheKingdom'', ''Film/GreenZone'', and ''Film/InTheValleyOfElah''. The war itself is so politically charged (the most controversial case since UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar) that any depiction of it risks alienating large chunks of the audience based on its perceived politics and it's too current to work as escapism. An alternative explanation is that the problem is with films perceived as critical of the military, or as depicting typical soldiers as victims and/or war criminals. The one successful Iraq War movie, ''Film/AmericanSniper'', focused on a specific, real life soldier and thus was distant enough of those pitfalls, and even then, the film was controversial due to the supposed [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade sanitization]] of Chris Kyle, who some felt was a war criminal. ''Film/ActOfValor'' managed to make money, and ''that'' started life as a Navy SEAL recruitment film (and the jingoistic tone [[CriticalDissonance was hated by critics but certainly worked for the viewers]]). ''Film/ZeroDarkThirty'', by the same team of ''Film/TheHurtLocker'', also recouped its budget given it dealt with [[UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden the hunt everyone wanted to be solved]]. (''ZDT'', along with ''Film/LoneSurvivor'', also shows how Afghanistan is less contentious for audiences than Iraq and thus easier to sell).

* ''Film/{{Anonymous}}'' is a film based on a common conspiracy theory that Creator/WilliamShakespeare did not actually write his plays, and they were instead written by the Earl of Oxford. The theory (and consequently, the film) requires a lot of familiarity with now-obscure figures and events from Elizabethan England; the average person has no idea who the Earl of Oxford even is, after all. However, the film also thoroughly [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade villainizes Shakespeare]], depicting him as a drunk, illiterate HateSink and a fraud, and takes massive [[ArtisticLicenseHistory liberties with history]] (e.g. heavily screwing with dates, depicting the Tudor Rose as an actual breed of rose, and claiming that Queen Elizabeth [[spoiler:was not only not a virgin, but had so many bastards that she couldn't even keep track of them all, and the Earl of Oxford was her son and romantic partner]]). It's also directed by Creator/RolandEmmerich, who is best known for action schlock like ''Film/IndependenceDay'' and ''Film/Godzilla1998''. To paraphrase [[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh one critic]], "you have to know the period to understand what's going on, and if you understand what's going on, you will hate what's going on." The film flopped pretty hard, and only made back half of its 30-million-dollar budget.

* The 1981 epic ''Film/LionOfTheDesert'', starring Creator/AnthonyQuinn. It is a powerful anti-colonialist film, but it is set in a conflict not many know about ([[UsefulNotes/TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]] UsefulNotes/{{Libya}}), with a hero not very famous outside of his country and [[UsefulNotes/FascistItaly enemies]] that aren't often seen as [[FascistButInefficient "scary" enough]] in cinema. The death blow comes with the fact that it was commissioned and financed by UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi, making potential viewers avoid the film for considering it propaganda. Too bad, because according to most critics it is actually good.

* ''Towelhead'' can certainly qualify. It’s a coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old Lebanese-American girl who's stated to be well developed for her age ({{justif|iedTrope}}ying the DawsonCasting along with legal reasons) coming to terms with her sexuality as she lives with her unsupportive father in UsefulNotes/{{Texas}} after being kicked out of her mother’s house during [[TheNineties the early nineties]] and [[spoiler: is raped by her neighbor and beaten by her father because of it]]. Plus, it’s called '''''[[IntentionallyAwkwardTitle Towelhead]]'''''. It only got a limited release.

* ''Film/TheFlash2023'' was hit by a truckload of [[TaintedByThePreview bad pre-release publicity]] due to [[TroubledProduction various production woes and scandals]], but some of it was criticized for being rooted in a conceptual level. For starters, Creator/EzraMiller's take on the titular character was polarizing since they were first casted for ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'', with many doubting their capacity to carry a film alone, a sentiment that went into overdrive when Miller became embroiled in very public legal scandals just months before the film's release. Then there's the fact that it's a loose adaptation of ''ComicBook/FlashpointDCComics'', itself a divisive comic miniseries, which formed an even bigger schism as rather than adapting the original BadFuture plot of the comic, the film goes for a [[TheMultiverse multiverse]]-based IntraFranchiseCrossover approach, featuring the Creator/BenAffleck and Creator/MichaelKeaton iterations of Batman ''and'' a new take on Supergirl. The adaptational changes were criticized by ''Flashpoint'' fans for being an InNameOnly approach, while others felt the cameo-laden multiverse concept was a tired and cheap ploy to bank off nostalgia. The marketing's heavy emphasis on Keaton's Batman, [[WolverinePublicity arguably even more than its titular character]], despite his character coming from films over thirty years prior to ''The Flash'' (i.e. likely from before when the film's intended audience was born), led to [[UncertainAudience further confusion as to whether the film was trying to market to modern or older fans]]. In the end, the film received mediocre reviews and became a colossal BoxOfficeBomb, with the general consensus being that it was far too unbalanced and ''confused'' in what it was trying to accomplish to ever be successful.

* Disney is infamously known to have some of their animated movies suffer from this every time they try to break away from their [[AnimatedMusical mold]]: for example, because they tried to venture into DarkerandEdgier territory, the disastrous box-office failure of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' almost ''destroyed the entire studio'', and was quickly forgotten once ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' was released into theaters and was proven to be far more successful. However, during the early 2000s, Disney then tried breaking away from the mold again, even revisiting the DarkerandEdgier trope a second time, but this resulted in movies like ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'', and ''WesternAnimation/HomeontheRange'' all becoming disastrous box office failures, forcing Disney to eventually begin to end their long-running trend of animating traditionally-animated movies for good. However, these movies are still considered as CultClassics, preventing them from being completely forgotten.

* ''Film/TheYoungMessiah'' got hit with this not necessarily because of the premise of the story -- a [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] drama based on the speculated early life of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} -- but because of the fact it's an adaptation of a book by Creator/AnneRice. Said book, ''Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt'', was written during Rice's brief born-again period in the mid-2000's, but by 2010, Rice had publicly denounced her faith, become more vocal about her progressive views, as well as critical of conservative Christians, making her extremely polarizing among faith-based audiences that a movie like this would normally be marketed to. While receiving mostly average reviews, the movie bombed to the tune of $7.3 million against a $18.5 million budget.

* ''Film/MishimaALifeInFourChapters'': While the film was and is critically acclaimed, is was AcclaimedFlop. Most american audiences didn't even know of Yukio Mishima or his works outside of the film itself, not even Japanese-Americans, and so didn't really bother watching, [[MinorityShowGhetto not helped by large portions being in Japanese]]. Meanwhile in Japan, where Mishima is far to polotically charged to dicuss, [[AmericansHateTingle audiences found a film about such political views too offputting to watch]], to the point it went gone straight to TV there with no home release there.

* ''Harold'' is a 2008 indie comedy film about a 14 year-old with early baldness making him look like a 50 year-old which in itself is a pretty alienating premise. Aside from an abysmal 30% in Rotten Tomatoes it only gathered some $13000 on a $3.5 million budget. Nevertheless Spencer Breslin was praised for his portrayal.